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Frances Tour Biography (1944-)

Born July 30, 1944, in Bovington, Hertsfordshire, England; daughter of Charles and Moyra (Fessas) De La Tour; married Tom Kempinski (a playwright); children: one son, one daughter. Career: Actress. Awards, Honors: Plays and Players Award, best supporting actress, 1973, for Small Craft Warnings; Olivier Award, best performance by an actress in a new play,New Standard Award, best actress, and Drama Award, best performance byan actress, all 1980, for Duet for One; New Standard British Film Award, best actress, 1980, for Rising Damp; Olivier Award, best actress, 1983, for A Moon for the Misbegotten. Addresses: Agent:Penny Wesson, London Management, 235 Regent St., London W1, England.

Nationality

English

Occupation

Actress

Birth Details

July 30, 1944

Bovington, Hertsfordshire, England

Famous Works

• CREDITS
• Stage Appearances
• Beggar, Timon of Athens, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon, England, 1965
• School superintendent's wife, The Government Inspector, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, London, England, 1966
• Alice, Henry V, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon, England, 1966
• Widow/Nicholas, The Taming of the Shrew, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1967then Los Angeles, CA, 1967
• Audrey, As You Like It, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1967then Los Angeles, CA, 1967
• Miss Hoyden, The Relapse, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1967-68
• Doris, Dutch Uncle, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1969
• Helen, Dr. Faustus, Royal Shakespeare Company, Theatregoround, Stratford-upon-Avon, England, 1970
• Player queen, Hamlet, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre,1971
• Helena, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1971
• Belinda, The Man of Mode, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1971
• Rosine, The Balcony, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1971
• Milly, High Time, Hampstead Theatre, London, England, 1972
• Violet, Small Craft Warnings, Hampstead Theatre, 1973later ComedyTheatre, London, England, 1973
• Ruth Jones, The Banana Box, Hampstead Theatre, 1973later Apollo Theatre, London, England, 1973
• Charlotte, The Vegetable, Oxford Playhouse, Oxford, England, 1975
• Rosalind, As You Like It, Oxford Playhouse, 1975
• Isabella, The White Devil, Old Vic Theatre, London, England, 1976
• Sophie Baines, Singles, Greenwich Theatre, London, England, 1977
• Else Jost, Laughter!, Royal Court Theatre, London, England, 1978
• Antonia, We Can't Pay? We Won't Pay, Half Moon Theatre, London, England, 1978
• Mum, Wheelchair Willie, Royal Court Theatre, 1978
• Kate Lister, Daughters of Men, Hampstead Theatre, 1979
• Eleanor Marx, Landscape of Exile, Half Moon Theatre, 1979
• Title role, Hamlet, New Half Moon Theatre, London, England, 1980
• Stephanie, Duet for One, Bush Theatre and Duke of York's Theatre,both London, England, 1980
• Jean, Skirmishes, Hampstead Theatre, 1982
• Judi Dench, "A Kind of Alaska," Three Plays by Harold Pinter (triple-bill with two other plays), National Theatre, Cottesloe Theatre, London, England, 1982
• Sonya, Uncle Vanya, Haymarket Theatre Royal, London, England, 1982
• Josie, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Riverside Studios, then MermaidTheatre, both London, England, 1983
• Glengarry Glen Ross, National Theatre, London, England, 1984
• Title role (Joan of Arc), Saint Joan, National Theatre, 1984
• Dance of Death, Riverside Studios, 1985
• Brighton Beach Memoirs, National Theatre, Lyttelton Theatre, London, England, 1986
• Title role (Lillian Hellman), Lillian, Lyric Theatre, London, England, 1986then Fortune Theatre, London, England, 1987
• Edith Sitwell, Facades, Lyric Theatre, 1988
• Sonya and Masha, Chekov's Women (selected scenes from Anton Chekov's plays), Lyric (Hammersmith) Theatre, London, England, 1989
• Regan, King Lear, Old Vic Theatre, 1989
• Arkadina, Ranyevskaya, and Olga Knipper, Chekhov's Women (selectedscenes from Anton Chekov's plays), 1990
• Miss Belzer, When She Danced, Globe Theatre, London, England, 1991
• Yoko Sitsuki, Greasepaint, Lyric (Hammersmith) Theatre, 1993
• Elinor, Blinded by the Sun, National Theatre, 1996
• Major Tours
• Widow/Nicholas, The Taming of the Shrew, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1967
• Audrey, As You Like It, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1967
• Player queen, Hamlet, Royal Shakespeare Company, U.S. cities, 1971
• Helena, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Royal Shakespeare Company, U.S.cities, 1971
• Television Appearances
• Series
• Miss Jones, Rising Damp, Yorkshire Television, 1974-78
• A Cottage to Let, BBC, 1976
• Every Silver Lining, BBC, 1993
• Downwardly Mobile, [Great Britain], 1994
• Miniseries
• Maud Cole, Flickers, Associated Television, 1980broadcast on Masterpiece Theatre, PBS, 1982
• Millie Renfrew, Ellis Island, CBS, 1984
• Emma Porlock, Cold Lazarus, Bravo, 1996
• Aunt Western, Henry Fielding's Tom Jones (also known as Tom Jones and The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling), Arts and Entertainment, 1997
• Movies
• All Good Men, 1974
• Miss Bellaver, Murder with Mirrors (also known as Agatha Christie's Murder with Mirrors), CBS, 1985
• A Kind of Living, BBC, 1987
• Mrs. DeVere, Strike It Rich (also known as Loser Takes Alland Money Talks), BBC, 1989
• Beatrice, "Bejewelled," The Magical World of Disney, NBC, 1991
• Dr. Helga Feuchtwanger, Genghis Cohn, Arts and Entertainment, 1993
• Also appeared in Housewives' Choice.
• Specials
• Skirmishes, BBC, 1982
• Duet for One, BBC, 1985
• Appeared in Play for Today, BBC.
• Episodic
• Crimes of Passion, Associated Television, 1973
• Paddy Bysouth, "One Jump Ahead," Stay Lucky, Yorkshire Television,1993
• Appeared as Celia, "A Tale of the Unexpected," The Bounder, Yorkshire Television.
• Other Television Appearances
• Mother, Clem, [Great Britain], 1987
• Film Appearances
• District nurse, Brotherly Love (also known as Country Dance), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1970
• Maud Crape, Every Home Should Have One (also known as Think Dirty), British Lion, 1970
• Miss Lockhart, Our Miss Fred, Willis Worldwide, 1972
• Salvation Army major, To the Devil a Daughter (also known as Child of Satan and Die Braut des Satans), EMI, 1976
• Julia Frogmorton, Wombling Free, Rank, 1977
• Miss Jones, Rising Damp (adapted from the television series), Black Lion Films, 1980
• Salvation Army major, Time Bandits, American Embassy, 1981
• Mrs. DeVere, Strike It Rich (adapted from the television movie; also known as Loser Takes All and Money Talks), Millimeter Films,1990

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals:

• New Statesman, September 6, 1996, p. 39.
• Plays and Players, October 6, 1991, .
• Sunday Times April 2, 1989, (London)*